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PHYSICS 0111
INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICS II
TERM 1 (Fall 2008)
TERM 1 (Fall 2008)
Lecturer: Dr. Chandralekha Singh
Office: 218 B Allen Hall
Office hours: Mon, and Fri after class or stop by anytime I am in my office.
Phone: 624-9045
E-mail: BEST WAY TO CONTACT ME clsingh@pitt.edu
Lectures: MWF 1-1.50pm (102 Thaw Hall)
Text: J. D. Cutnell and K. W. Johnson, Physics, 7th edition, Wiley,
Teaching Assistant: Brian Wilmer (ph: 624-1826/624-1831 TA office 5th floor Allen Hall)
TA's E-Mail: blw28@pitt.edu and blw28@pitt.edu
Goals and Objectives
Goals and Objectives
The major goal of this physics course is to enable you to develop logical reasoning skills to explain or predict diverse phenomena in everyday experience, and to become good problem solvers and independent learners. I encourage you to participate fully in class discussions. Physics knowledge is hierarchical: new concepts rely heavily on solid understanding of prior material. I strongly encourage you to ask questions to clarify your doubts. Remember that all questions are good questions, and there is a good chance that if you are having trouble understanding a concept, others are also struggling with the same concept. "Plug-and-chug" approaches to physics are neither useful for developing problem solving, reasoning and higher order thinking skills that I hope you will develop nor likely to produce satisfactory results on examinations. I also want you to remember that struggling is a very natural part of learning. Do not get discouraged.
The major goal of this physics course is to enable you to develop logical reasoning skills to explain or predict diverse phenomena in everyday experience, and to become good problem solvers and independent learners. I encourage you to participate fully in class discussions. Physics knowledge is hierarchical: new concepts rely heavily on solid understanding of prior material. I strongly encourage you to ask questions to clarify your doubts. Remember that all questions are good questions, and there is a good chance that if you are having trouble understanding a concept, others are also struggling with the same concept. "Plug-and-chug" approaches to physics are neither useful for developing problem solving, reasoning and higher order thinking skills that I hope you will develop nor likely to produce satisfactory results on examinations. I also want you to remember that struggling is a very natural part of learning. Do not get discouraged.
Course Description
Course Description
The lecture material will follow the text fairly closely, and many of the assignments will be drawn from the text. Hence it is a good idea for you to purchase the text or have regular access to it. There will be two copies (or copies) on reserve in engineering library in Benedum Hall. In this course we will cover most of Chapters 16-22, 24-31, which includes material on waves, electricity and magnetism, optics, special relativity and quantum physics. It is highly recommended that you read the relevant chapter ahead of time. Occasionally there may be material covered in lecture which is not in the textbook. Students are not expected to have a working knowledge of calculus. However, knowledge of algebra and trigonometry is expected.
The lecture material will follow the text fairly closely, and many of the assignments will be drawn from the text. Hence it is a good idea for you to purchase the text or have regular access to it. There will be two copies (or copies) on reserve in engineering library in Benedum Hall. In this course we will cover most of Chapters 16-22, 24-31, which includes material on waves, electricity and magnetism, optics, special relativity and quantum physics. It is highly recommended that you read the relevant chapter ahead of time. Occasionally there may be material covered in lecture which is not in the textbook. Students are not expected to have a working knowledge of calculus. However, knowledge of algebra and trigonometry is expected.
Courseweb
Courseweb
Useful information including syllabus and assignments for this course are available at the courseweb site for this course http://courseweb.pitt.edu. You can log into this site with your university user name and password if you are enrolled in the course. However, this information may take a few days load after classes begin. This site can also be used for discussion forums related to this course in which your instructor and fellow classmates can participate.
Peer Instruction
Peer Instruction
To ensure that you are understanding the underlying concepts covered during the lecture, I will interrupt the class several times during each lecture to pose a conceptual question. You will be asked first to think about the question by yourself, and later discuss it with your neighbor. Then, I will poll the class to see how many of you obtained the correct answer. Each student will be assigned a personal response system transmitter (clicker). Please put your backpacks in your seats before picking up YOUR transmitter from the bins. At the end of the class, please return the transmitter to the correct bin number. The class participation through these transmitters counts for 5% of your course grade. It is important that you take the peer discussion seriously because you can learn a lot from your friends. Moreover, the kinds of questions asked in the class will help you understand that memorization of definitions is NOT the goal of the course and it is important that you start to pay attention to your knowledge structure and learn to interpret and draw inferences using various physics principles in diverse situations. If you get the response correct after discussion with your peers, you will get 100%. If you do not get the response correct after discussion with your peers, but participated in all questions that were asked, you will still get 80%. There will be ABSOLUTELY no makeup for class-participation points lost due to absences from class due to any reason. Research in physics education has shown that the most lucid lectures by the instructors are not as effective as working with a peer and thinking through the issues.
Homework
Homework
Confucius has summarized the learning process well: ``I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand". Homework is an integral part of learning the material of this course. There will be regular reading assignments questions, exercises, and numerical problems assigned. The numerical problems will be done online on WileyPlus but conceptual questions from book will be collected in your recitation and graded only for completeness. However, almost every week in the recitation there will be a quiz based upon the homework for that week (The quiz questions/problems will NOT be exactly the same as the homework questions/problems. Understanding, rather than memorization of homework is important so that you can do a wide variety of similar questions/problems.). Recitation performance will count approximately 20% in determining the final grade (this includes 5% from homework completeness and 15% from quizzes). Due to the importance of the homework in helping you learn and apply the conceptual matter under discussion, and to prepare for examinations, you are highly encouraged to try as many of the assigned problems/questions as possible before you get help. Solutions for the homework will be provided on courseweb by Friday of the week the homework is picked up and you are quizzed on the material. The mid-term examinations will involve conceptual and quantitative problem solving to demonstrate mastery of the material, and the best preparation will be a thorough understanding of the assigned problems and questions. Once in a while there will be class quizzes that will also count as recitation quizzes and their scores will be added to your recitation quiz scores. The lowest homework grade and the lowest quiz grade will be dropped in determining your total homework and quiz grades.
Confucius has summarized the learning process well: ``I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand". Homework is an integral part of learning the material of this course. There will be regular reading assignments questions, exercises, and numerical problems assigned. The numerical problems will be done online on WileyPlus but conceptual questions from book will be collected in your recitation and graded only for completeness. However, almost every week in the recitation there will be a quiz based upon the homework for that week (The quiz questions/problems will NOT be exactly the same as the homework questions/problems. Understanding, rather than memorization of homework is important so that you can do a wide variety of similar questions/problems.). Recitation performance will count approximately 20% in determining the final grade (this includes 5% from homework completeness and 15% from quizzes). Due to the importance of the homework in helping you learn and apply the conceptual matter under discussion, and to prepare for examinations, you are highly encouraged to try as many of the assigned problems/questions as possible before you get help. Solutions for the homework will be provided on courseweb by Friday of the week the homework is picked up and you are quizzed on the material. The mid-term examinations will involve conceptual and quantitative problem solving to demonstrate mastery of the material, and the best preparation will be a thorough understanding of the assigned problems and questions. Once in a while there will be class quizzes that will also count as recitation quizzes and their scores will be added to your recitation quiz scores. The lowest homework grade and the lowest quiz grade will be dropped in determining your total homework and quiz grades.
Physics Exploration Center
Physics Exploration Center
For a good understanding of physics concepts learned during the lectures, you will be assigned a few hands-on problems each week which involve the use of the Physics Exploration Center (PEC). PEC is a learning center (entrance through Physics Resource Room, Thaw 311/312)where lecture demonstrations have been modified and turned into small experiments for you to explore. Concrete experiences provided by the hands-on activities are very important for conceptual understanding of physical phenomena. Please predict the outcome of the explorations before performing them to maximize their benefit. Each exploration assignment will count for one bonus point toward your final grade. Exploration assignments should be turned in directly to the TA in the recitation class. You can go to the exploration center with your peers and work with them and discuss the explorations with each other. However, each person is responsible for their own assignment. Each person should get their exploration sheet signed by the TA present in the resource room as evidence of working on the exploration problem themselves.
For a good understanding of physics concepts learned during the lectures, you will be assigned a few hands-on problems each week which involve the use of the Physics Exploration Center (PEC). PEC is a learning center (entrance through Physics Resource Room, Thaw 311/312)where lecture demonstrations have been modified and turned into small experiments for you to explore. Concrete experiences provided by the hands-on activities are very important for conceptual understanding of physical phenomena. Please predict the outcome of the explorations before performing them to maximize their benefit. Each exploration assignment will count for one bonus point toward your final grade. Exploration assignments should be turned in directly to the TA in the recitation class. You can go to the exploration center with your peers and work with them and discuss the explorations with each other. However, each person is responsible for their own assignment. Each person should get their exploration sheet signed by the TA present in the resource room as evidence of working on the exploration problem themselves.
Effective Problem Solving Strategies
Effective Problem Solving Strategies
Since the goal of this course is to develop your reasoning and problem solving skills, I expect you to solve physics problems employing effective problem solving strategies, which includes analysis, planning, implementation and reflection rather than solving the problems haphazardly. I will model this method in class, and it will be necessary to follow this method to receive any partial credit in weekly quizzes and exams.
Since the goal of this course is to develop your reasoning and problem solving skills, I expect you to solve physics problems employing effective problem solving strategies, which includes analysis, planning, implementation and reflection rather than solving the problems haphazardly. I will model this method in class, and it will be necessary to follow this method to receive any partial credit in weekly quizzes and exams.
Disability Resources
Disability Resources
If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and the Office of Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union, (412) 648-7890/(412) 383-7355 (TTY), as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course.
Study Resources
Study Resources
A Resource Room will be available throughout the semester for help in understanding physics concepts and completing homework assignments. The room is TYPICALLY available from 9am to 4.30pm, Monday through Friday, in room 311/312 Thaw Hall. Please check the most recent resource room staffing at http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/Resources/Education/resource_room.htm since a few slots from 9am-4.30pm may not be available due to unavailability of any graduate student at certain times when all of them are themselves in classes.
Grading Policy
Grading Policy
There will be three mid-term exams and a 1.50 hour cumulative final examination. The final examination is already scheduled by the University; it is in the course schedule distributed by the registrar's office. The mid-term exams are TENTATIVELY expected to fall on:
There will be three mid-term exams and a 1.50 hour cumulative final examination. The final examination is already scheduled by the University; it is in the course schedule distributed by the registrar's office. The mid-term exams are TENTATIVELY expected to fall on:
Exam #1 F, Sept. 19
Exam #2 F, Oct. 24
Exam #3 F, Nov. 21
The lowest performance of the three in-term exams will be dropped. The course grade is expected to be determined by two mid-term exam grades (20% each), the final exam (35%), the recitation grade (20%), the class participation (5%) and the 10 bonus points you accumulate in the exploration assignments throughout the term. In practice, class participation, exploration assignments and the recitation performance often determines which side of a borderline (e.g., A to B or C- to D) the final grade will fall on. There will be ABSOLUTELY no make-up midterm examinations. According to the departmental policy, 40-50% of the students in the class will receive A and B grades and the rest will receive C grade or lower. The final exam will not be given early so please plan to be here during the final exam.
The new Fall Break is an important change in the academic calendar. Monday Oct 13 is a holiday but Monday classes will meet on Tuesday Oct 14.
Academic integrity is very important. Anybody found cheating in the course in any form will obtain a failing grade in the course. If you have any questions, please contact me at: clsingh@pitt.edu
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